The Girl Who Loves a Monster
by NerdyLittlePrincess
Summary: Alice wasn't one to lay foul eyes among the city of Gotham. She rather liked the mysterious doings going on all the time. When she meets Jerome, her life takes a very different turn. Soon enough, she is surrounded by the darkness and corruption of the city she admired.
1. Prologue

A/N: Hello all! So, I've decided to join in on the Gotham bandwagon of fanfics and create a little story about the lovely ginger psycho we all know and love. Hope you guys enjoy! Oh, and for picturing what Alice looks like, I'm using Lily Collins as her face claim. Reviews and feedback would be greatly appreciated.

She was never told where she was going. She was only told to get in the car. No questions. She obliged, sliding in and sitting quietly the whole drive. She was taken to a large building, soon instructed to take the elevator. This building was unknown to her. After a few minutes of soaring up many levels, she had finally reached her destination.

She was cautious as she stepped out, completely unaware of why she was brought here. She paused in an instant once she had recognized a very familiar face. She felt tears stinging at her eyes. Not from fear, nor from sadness, but of longing and relief. She slowly approached the figure in front of her, a male to be exact.

After a moment of silence, she spoke up. "I…I didn't think I'd…but…you're okay. After all of this time." There was no stopping the flow of water from her eyes now. In response, the male figure put his strong arms around her, holding her close to him.

God did he miss her. Truly. Just seeing her face made him feel so good inside. He felt the pain from her voice, hurt like hell. It showed that she had missed him just as much. He gently ran his hand through her hair, so silky smooth, just as he remembered.

"It's been so, so long. Much too long." She said into his chest, gripping to him tightly and not wanting to let go.

He leaned his head to press a small kiss to her forehead, whispering softly in return. "I know."


	2. Chapter One: Meet Alice

Her name is Alice Hamblin. 17 years of age. Flowing brown locks of hair reaching past her shoulders. Beautiful, bright hazel eyes. Always wore the kindest of smiles. At least until the incident happened. Quite a tragedy it was. She found out what had happened once two cops had appeared on her aunt's doorstep. Poor Alice was only nine at the time. Very young to lose both of her parents.

For the next eight years, Aunt Jess was Alice's legal guardian. It wasn't all so bad, thankfully. Alice enjoyed the times she spent with her. It was her who inspired Alice to take an interest in art. She had such a fascination with creativity and she owned many sketchbooks that were lying about in her bedroom. Art was her escape. It helped heal her when she lost her mother and father. It was her way to keep on living in the world.

Now Gotham was not Alice's true home. It was for her mother and aunt, but she was born and raised in Queens. And she couldn't go back there now. Gotham was now her home. And she accepted that. Sure, it took some getting used to, but eventually she felt comfortable in the city, despite the massive crime wave and outbreaks that it was known for.

As every year passed while she lived there, Alice grew and grew. Not just in beauty, but in her talent. Drawing became so natural to her. She could practically bring anything to life on a single page of paper. Was she the next Da Vinci? Perhaps. But her talent was something she wanted to keep to a minimal audience. Some of her illustrations were quite generic or common, and others were of her own design, something along the lines of exotic, dark, and eerie. This was an aspect Alice took a very heavy liking to.

Alice embraced the strange and weirdness of the city. Who said everything, or everyone, had to be normal? There was no such thing. Not to her. She knew she didn't see herself as normal. Something about the darkness in the city…attracted her. With being as sweet as she is, this was a complex combination.

It was now the month of February. The 16th to be exact. This day wasn't just any day though. Alice was turning eighteen. And despite having to take on a meager afternoon shift at work, she was in the most joyous of moods. She stayed this way once returning home to Aunt Jess.

She skipped into the door of the apartment, setting her bag down onto the counter in the kitchen. "Aunt Jess? I'm home!"

From around the corner, her aunt appeared in front of her, a cake in her hands and she began to sing. " _Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Alice, happy birthday to you._ " Aunt Jess also had brown hair like Alice. Eyes a light shade of brown to match with it. Like her mother, Alice looked quite similar to her aunt.

Alice beamed brightly at the song and cake, pausing for a moment before blowing out the candles. "Oh thank you, Aunt Jess. It's beautiful. And surely delicious, too."

Aunt Jess chuckled softly, setting the cake down on the table. "That isn't the only thing I have for you. I think you'll like this little present. Hold your hands out and close your eyes."

With an eyebrow raised, Alice shrugged and did as her aunt told her. A papery feeling came in contact with her skin. She wasn't entirely sure what it could possibly be. Once Aunt Jess gave the O.K. to open her eyes, she gave a small gasp of excitement. The paper she was holding was a ticket. A ticket to the circus.

"Aunt Jess! This is wonderful! Oh thank you, thank you!" Alice reached her arms around her aunt in a tight hug. She gently pulled away before asking, "This isn't…the only ticket is it? Are you…"

Aunt Jess sighed softly, a sad smile on her face. "Unfortunately I have to take the night shift at the hospital. Becky's kid has some band recital or something like that. But I want you to go and have a good time. Double the fun for me." She let out a little laugh.

"Well, alright. If you insist." Alice nodded with a smile. "I say we have a slice of cake now, yeah?"

"Whatever the birthday girl wants!" Aunt Jess exclaimed.


	3. Chapter Two: Making a New Friend

In just a few hours, Alice made her way to the circus that was set up near the park. It happened to be the very first night of shows and Gotham was the last stop for the tour. With one of her sketchbooks in hand, and her purse slung over her shoulder, she wandered about all the many tents and trailers before going to search for a seat in the big top.

Alice noticed a few performers here and there scurrying about, obviously rushing to get themselves together for the night. Nobody paid any mind to her nor did she to anyone else. It wasn't long until she stopped in front of a large, gray trailer. In front there was a cage with a snake resting inside of it. Her eyes were locked on its form.

"Aren't you a pretty one," Alice smiled. Her eyes suddenly lit up at the thought of a new piece she could do in her sketchbook. Opening to a clean page, Alice took out her pencil, starting to draw an outline of the snake. Once that was done, she began to work out the snake's scale pattern. "Hm, you will be quite a challenge. That's what will make this more interesting."

Little did Alice know there was a figure standing not too far behind her. They weren't standing there for too long, but suddenly there was the urge that they should speak. "Beautiful, isn't she?"

Alice froze, putting her pencil at a pause and turning around to see who was talking to her. The figure was a he, and quite a few inches taller than herself. His eyes were a bright blue which accented his red hair. She gave him a sweet smile. "Y-Yeah. She really is."

"Uh, forgive me for startling you, if I did." The red head spoke, a hint of shyness in his voice.

"Oh, no no, you didn't. Really. D-Does she…belong to you?" Alice placed her pencil back into her bag.

"Kinda. She's…my mother's."

Alice blinked for a moment. "Your mother?"

"Snake dancer. She's not here at the moment. Unfortunately. Usually doesn't stick around for a lot of the shows I'm afraid."

"Aww, well that's too bad. Hopefully she'll make it back safely. Wherever she may be."

The red head only nodded. He was keeping up his appearance at that moment. Playing off that he really was concerned about his mother.

"Oh, um, I'm Alice." She said, stepping a tad bit closer to him and extending her hand.

With a small smile, his hand gently reached out to shake hers. "Jerome. And that's Sheba."

Alice looked back briefly towards the snake. "Well, it's very nice to meet you both."

"Likewise." Jerome was never one to socialize too much to anyone while traveling, but something came off of Alice that he liked. Was it the cheerfulness? The kindness? Her smile? He was immediately drawn to her smile once he saw it. So natural and beautiful, he didn't want that to go away any time soon.

"I hope you don't mind my using of Sheba for one of my pieces. Just for fun really. I'm not one to advertise my work to the world."

"No, not at all. M-May I…"

"Of course! I'm not finished yet, but I think it looks pretty good so far." Alice gently handed Jerome her sketchbook, the page opened to what she started of Sheba. "And, if you want, you can flip through the other pages I've done, too."

Jerome was suddenly captivated by the various pictures. Damn, she had a good eye for detail. He was thoroughly impressed. "Wow…you're amazing. Honestly. I've never seen anything like this before."

Alice felt a light blush tinting her cheeks as she smiled. "Thank you." For him to take such interest in her art made Alice a bit warm inside, the fuzzy kind of warm that felt good. It was a feeling she was not very familiar with.

Jerome handed back the book to her. "So, are you here by yourself?"

Alice nodded her head before answering. "Yeah, it's just me. My aunt would have been here, too, but she had work. Told me I should just come and enjoy my birthday at the circus anyhow."

Jerome wore a sincere smile now. "Ah, well, first off, happy birthday. And secondly, allow me to accompany you for the evening." He offered Alice his arm, which she gladly accepted as he led them to the big top. Just in time, too. The last call for seating was going on.

"Oh, we better hurry inside." Alice said, the two of them right outside of the massive tent.

"Wait here. I'll be right back." Jerome told her and walked away for a brief moment or two. He managed to sneak a bag of popcorn and a soda and brought it back to Alice.

Alice smiled at his kind offering once he returned. "Why that's very sweet of you. Thank you. And I will share." She happily took the drink into her hand as she and Jerome walked inside the tent to find a seat.

A/N: Alrighty, so Jerome has shown up! This is only just the beginning, folks. I will try my best to write as frequently as possible for this story. Hope you like it so far!


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